


Every Rose Bush Has It's Thorns

by RainbowLotus



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, Reference to Nomad not having all of her fingers, Restlessness, Slight Romantic Tension, serious talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:37:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19412827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowLotus/pseuds/RainbowLotus
Summary: Maverick has a hard time falling asleep, so he heads to the recreational lounge in his apartment building to find something to do. Nomad meets him on the way there and they spark a conversation.





	Every Rose Bush Has It's Thorns

The cold, steely gaze from Maverick's eyes focused up at the ceiling of his room, the surrounding area so quiet you could almost hear a feather falling to the ground, if it weren't for the subtle rhythm of the Bostonian's breathing. The operator's body was sprawled out onto his bed, the covers no longer serving their function as they had been kicked off to the side mere moments ago. In short, Erik couldn't fall asleep. For reasons beyond his own knowledge, his body was intent on staying awake past his usual sleep deadline. It was more curious to him than irritating. It just meant he would have to find a way to spend his time until his body would be willing to rest. Though, with it being almost midnight, there wasn't a whole lot to do, not without waking up one of the operators that were housed in his vicinity.

It was for convenience alone that a good handful of the operators for Rainbow were all living within the apartment complexes that were at least five to ten miles outside Hereford Base. Some of them were rather basic, and only had the bare necessities one would need in a home, and others were more luxurious and styled for ones with more sophisticated tastes. Erik had worked together with his only teammate from his unit, Morowa, to find an apartment that was somewhere in the middle. They had settled on a building that was six miles from the base, had a gym on the first floor, and public pool. It wasn't too luxurious, and it had a little more than the basics in each apartment, which made it the perfect fit. Plus, there were always something interesting that Erik could photograph in his spare time, making it an unintended perk.

The gym wouldn't be such a bad idea, if he weren't already sore from the killer training regiments he had done with some of the guys earlier. Jordan had pulled his leg about not really trying, which sprouted a contest between the FBI agent and the Delta Force operator. Needless to say, Erik won, but at a cost of his body's happiness and will to do anything physically active after that. It would probably be this way for a couple days, maybe less if he rested up. Though, with the current predicament Erik was facing, that seemed highly unlikely.

Evidently, he would have to settle on something that was much less invigorating to his muscles, and an activity that could calm his nerves. This place had a lounge, right? Maybe if he went and explored he could find something to do.

Maverick pushed himself up to sit before he shifted to have his legs go over the side of his bed and allow his feet to rest on the cold, hardwood floor. Staying in his sleepwear shouldn't have been an issue, since he had long pants and a white t-shirt. All he needed were socks and his running shoes. It would look funny, sure, but at least he would be comfortable. Plus, it's not like anyone was going to see him, at the time. So, why would it matter?

Erik got up and walked over to his dresser and opened up the smallest drawer that was at the top center. He fished out a pair of soft, white socks, closed the drawer, and searched for his shoes through the darkened space. Just barely, he caught their silhouette by his bed from the faint moonlight that crept through his curtains. Snatching them up off the floor, the blonde man leaned against the bedroom wall next to his door to slip them onto his feet. Once that was done, he carefully and quietly made his way out of his room, taking extra steps to not make any noise as he passed by Morowa's room. She was already angry enough when she was at work on most days, he didn't need to piss her off on a Thursday night at midnight. Even more so when she had some instructing to do for a few recruits. Waking her up could possibly mean the end to Maverick's existence...or perhaps just his eardrums, but both were equally important to the Bostonian.

He managed to escape the apartment without a single sound, and since he hadn't heard the familiar British voice, Erik assumed he was in the clear. Before he would go anywhere though, he remembered to lock the apartment door, then once that was done, he made his journey down the barely lit hallways of the fourth floor. He had never heard the place so quiet before. Usually there were a bunch of miscellaneous sounds, from people running upstairs to loud music or, if it were a really wild day, yelling and cursing. But at midnight? Nothing. Walking down the halls was rather uncomfortable now that he had literally no sound creating an ambiance.

Taking out his phone, Erik scrolled through notifications from earlier in the evening that he hadn't bothered to check. Most of them were just messages in a group chat he had with some of the guys he hung out with religiously, like Jordan and Julien. It seemed they were discussing a barbecue party at Thermite's apartment. That didn't sound half bad, and it looked like it was unanimously agreed upon. Cool.

Maverick had been too distracted by his device that he had missed the intersection of the hallways, leading to the elevators. He had started to venture down a different corridor. Because of this obliviousness to his surroundings, it was no surprise that he jumped in slight shock when someone tapped on his shoulder. Whipping around, Erik was a little dazed and confused to see a woman staring back at him, but with a gentle smile. Her hair was about her shoulders length, all jet black and curly, and her eyes a soft, amber brown.

"I didn't realize you lived down this way." The voice sounded familiar, but unfortunately his mind wasn't catching up just yet to recognize who the voice belonged to. It was pretty late, after all.

"Oh uh-" Erik dimmed his screen and glanced around before realizing just how side tracked he had gotten. "I actually live on the 420-425 area..."

The woman giggled quietly in amusement before crossing her arms over her chest, which was covered with a long nightshirt that went to her upper thigh, and black yoga pants that kept her legs unexposed. "Then what are you doing all the way on this side of the floor, _Maverick?_ " She mused.

The blonde was ultimately confused now, and as much as he hated to admit that he was completely lost to who she was, he had to bring it up. Considering he had never seen any woman with curly black hair, she wasn't ringing a bell.

"Well, I kinda got distracted," Erik lightly shook his phone in the air between them for emphasis. "I was actually going to be heading down to the lounge." When she nodded in understanding, he made the decision to bring up his failure to recognize her. "Not to be rude, but my mind is literally dead at the moment... can you remind me what your name is, please?"

"Of course." The woman burst into a little fit of laughter, trying her best to stay quiet, but it was very difficult. She couldn't help but find the Bostonian to be fairly amusing, considering the circumstances. "My name is Sanaa." She greeted kindly, moving some of her hair back behind her shoulder. Then, something clicked to her and she playfully deadpanned her own reaction. "Of course you wouldn't have known!" She giggled happily. "You never have seen me outside work, so you always saw me in uniform."

Erik rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly when he finally figured it out. How could he have been so forgetful? Granted, he did have a reason to be confused, but still. Her voice and facial features should have been enough. They had seen each other at work countless times, and he's spoken to her at least once to give a hello each day.

"Sorry, _Nomad_." He chuckled softly, smiling brightly and putting his phone back into his pocket. "My bad."

Sanaa shook her head and motioned for him to walk with her down the hall. "Don't worry about it too much. The same thing happened with Monika. She didn't recognize me at all."

Erik was stunned. "But doesn't Monika work with you-"

"At least one hour a day." Nomad spoke with a light hearted tone, "It was pretty funny to see how surprised she looked when I told her who I was."

When they got to the elevators, Sanaa pressed the down arrow on the panel to call up a lift. They both waited patiently until one would arrive, and a subtle _ding_ sounded in their small little region of the complex. Erik allowed her to step in first before he followed shortly after and tapped the 'close door' button with his index finger before proceeding to lean back against one of the metallic walls, sighing in exhaustion as his eyes adjusted to the bright light in the elevator.

When his eyes had finished adjusting, he noticed Sanaa had taken out her phone, and probably reading something pretty quickly, because she put it back almost instantaneously. However, just barely, Erik caught a glimpse of her right hand. She lacked her middle and ring finger down to the first knuckle, essentially. There were still pieces of them there, but they couldn't function like her other fingers could, no doubt. The sight made Erik's gaze soften and a small frown formed on his lips.

"What's keeping you up so late?" He brought his eyes back up to meet Sanaa's.

Nomad simply shrugged. "I just got back from a training exercise in the United States yesterday. Still adjusting to the time zone difference." She stated calmly, her voice a little less enthusiastic than earlier. "I had gone to see if maybe Ryad might have some Melatonin to take to help me sleep."

The Bostonian smirked. "Not a bad idea. But, you do know Doc lives a floor above us in 514, right? Ryad is all the way on the first floor."

"Oh." Sanaa sounded a little dead from not knowing that. "I might just go see him at work later and ask about getting some from the medical supply."

Erik laughed warmly. "That works too, I guess."

When the elevator reached the first floor, the two of them walked out quietly past the lobby, waving to the poor receptionist who had to work the graveyard shift. Thankfully, the tenants in the building weren't very active, so there was nothing to worry about in terms of chaos or dysfunctional behavior in the lounge or pool area. She waved back with a tired smile and allowed them access to the lounge, where there were some magazines on a table, a TV with a sofa and some arm chairs in front of it, and a makeshift kitchen area that was in the far back, with a coffee pot, sink, microwave, and plastic utensils. 

Maverick made his way over to the sofa and let himself fall backward to be caught by the stiff piece of furniture. Clearly it wasn't very comfortable compared to the one in his apartment, but it was something, and at least he had some company. Sanaa had decided to sit beside him, and she leaned forward towards the coffee table to pick up one of the magazines, but she set it back down after reading the headlines. Most of those were just bullshit articles involving fake news but real celebrities. Not really either of tastes from the general view of things.

"I figured the lounge would have a bit more to do than just read or watch TV." Nomad spoke truthfully. "I could have invited you into my apartment. It would have been more enjoyable than this."

Erik couldn't fight a light chuckle from escaping. At least she was honest. "I'm glad one of us said it." He then ran a hand through his messy golden locks of hair. "We could always talk about stuff. It's better than nothing."

Sanaa smiled and leaned back into the couch and glanced up at Erik as he set his phone on the table so that it wouldn't get stuck in the cushions somewhere. "Alright then, Boston Boy," She snickered when he gave a slight, unamused glance. "What would you like to talk about?"

"First off," Erik playfully flicked her arm. "I'm not _Boston Boy_. Got that, sunshine?" He smiled when she started to lose control of her laughter for a brief moment, and the look of joy on her face was priceless. It was almost unreal to witness. Usually out in the field, she was so serious, calm, and never cracked a smile. It must have been Kaid's influence. But now, she was nothing but a ray of sunshine, which is what sparked her new nickname for the GSUTR specialist. "Second of all, I don't think I've ever gotten to really hear more about you."

"Considering you didn't even recognize me in the hallway, I'm not surprised." Nomad grinned, laughing when Erik threw a tiny temper tantrum, his expression changing to disbelief.

"Okay, you said I wasn't the only one! You said Monika reacted way more than I did to recognizing you. And she works with you more." Maverick argued with a huff afterwards.

Sanaa shook her head in dismay and decided to stop teasing him for the time being. "I know, I know. I'm just pulling your leg."

The Bostonian sighed in discontent, but gave a weary smile. "I already got enough of that from Trace today. I don't need it from anyone else, if you don't mind." The woman nodded in agreement and smiled as she relaxed into the sofa, still facing the man as he spoke again, this time, his voice was much softer, almost uncharacteristically careful with his choice of words. "Do you mind if I look at your hand?" Nomad didn't seem to flinch at the question, but it was obvious she knew what he meant, though just to test her theory, she extended her left hand, which had no blemishes or deformities. Just as she suspected, he shook his head and corrected her. "The other one, if that's alright."

Nomad hesitantly reached her right hand out to him, and her cheeks flushed with a sudden rush of heat when Erik gently held it with both of his hands, his eyes surveying her limb as if it were a marvel to behold. Most gawked at it like she had something wrong with her, but him? Maverick was so calm, so amazed by her missing fingers, and one of his thumbs caressed the top of the two small nubs that made up her middle and ring finger.

"I know, Erik, it's-"

"You're very unique." His words brought silence upon her lips and she stared up at him with unmistakable confusion, but also pure relief. She was gaining mixed sensations from hearing his compliment, but her confusion faded as he continued on to explain himself. "You've lost part of what every operator here thinks they need, but you push through without it even bringing down your performance in the field..." Sanaa bashfully avoided his gaze and looked down to her own lap as he continued to gently touch her hand. "You write with this hand too, don't you?"

Nomad nodded faintly, looking up when he stopped speaking. When he asked how she did it, she managed to find a pen on the coffee table and took his right hand from where it had moved to on the edge of the top of the couch. She then tried to keep his middle and ring fingers bent towards his palm while she positioned the pen between the three remaining fingers he would have. "I hold the pencil like this." She smiled softly at how frustrated he seemed by holding it that way. "Funny thing is, you only need your thumb, index, and pinky finger." Sanaa informed him. "Your pinky finger is for stability, and the other two keep the pen held tight so you can write."

"That's incredible." Erik hummed in thought. "It must have been rough getting this down to write properly,"

Sanaa nodded. "It was. But it only took a couple weeks of practice for me to be able to have my old penmanship."

The two continued to discuss interesting topic points in their life, from how Nomad had lost her two fingers and many of her expeditions, to Maverick explaining in vibrant detail about his time in Kabul, Afghanistan. They had lost track of the time the longer they talked with one another, and eventually, they just stopped caring about how long they had been up for. Both Sanaa and Erik were determined to invest their time into learning more about each other, but as their bodies eventually taught them, you can only go on for so long before you start to crave sleep over all else.

So, Erik offered to escort the beautiful woman back to her apartment, and a gentle smile on his face as he extended an arm for her, to which she happily accepted, locking her left arm around his right as they now exited the lounge and headed towards the elevators. However, once they had gotten inside one to head to the fourth floor, Nomad leaned her body against Erik, and the blonde man blinked down at her in slight curiosity. Though, that curiosity faded into delight when her left hand intertwined with his and gave it a gentle squeeze to show some affection.

They arrived to their designated floor and Maverick took extra caution in making sure they didn't stumble in the dark, since the halls were barely lit at this time of the night, but he did keep his arm and hand locked with Sanaa's. Though, when they reached her apartment, she seemed a little hesitant to let go, but did so anyway to avoid embarrassment.

"It was...nice talking to you.." She spoke softly, the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips. " _Boston boy._ "

Erik smirked at her little addition of the nickname she had grown fond of for the Bostonian. To which, his only response was to tilt her head up with his right hand so that he could lean down and have about an inch worth of space between both their lips. When he saw the faint pink hue dusting her cheeks, he couldn't help but tease her in return.

"You too, Sunshine." And he immediately closed the distance between them, a soft hum coming from both parties.

Nomad hadn't expected her night to go the way it did. It went from her being irritable from restlessness to now savoring the sensation of Erik's lips caressing hers while his beard tickled her sensitive skin. His actions were filled with passion, and it only increased when she allowed him to deepen it further, letting their tongues dance with one another.

It wasn't until they separated for a breath that they realized just how strongly they had felt about one another. Now, not only was Sanaa blushing a noticable red tiny, but so was Maverick.

Nomad reached her right hand up and lightly brushed her thumb against his beard in a loving manner before smiling tiredly at her newfound love interest.

"You should get some rest. I'm pretty sure you still have training to do." She spoke with almost a motherly tone, expressing her concern with how this might impact his activity the next day.

Erik nodded gingerly, but brought a hand up to rest on hers to reciprocate her affection. "It was nice talking with you, Sanaa. We should hang out again soon." The expression on his features said that it would definitely have to be really soon, but he wouldn't push his luck. Tonight was already a pretty big win for him. He didn't want to ruin it.

"Of course." Nomad stood up on her toes to plant a quick kiss onto the man's stubbled cheek before retreating inside to the homely environment of her apartment, leaving Erik to walk home to his own.

As he trekked the darkened halls, Maverick couldn't help but smile the whole way there.

Sanaa was certainly a keeper.


End file.
